We’ve been racing for 22 hours, but the final run the checkered flag will feature a titanic battle in three classes in the final two hours of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
For the overall lead, Wayne Taylor Racing’s Max Angelelli held a 6.3 second lead with two hours remaining over Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon.
Wayne Taylor and Angelelli won this race 10 years ago as co-drivers. Remarkably, Taylor’s team has finished second in the past two years by less than two seconds . Jordan Taylor has been installed for the run to the flag as the team’s “fuel saver” – the team concerned about their ability to make it on only one more stop.
The No.01 Ganassi car fell out of contention around the two hour mark when Sage Karam brought the car back to the garage with a clutch issue.
In GT Le Mans, the No.3 Corvette continues to have a faultless race. They haven’t always been the fastest car but Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe haven’t put a mark on the car.
Garcia is chasing down the leading but wounded No.25 BMW of Dirk Werner who is running without some of its rear bodywork after an earlier off course excursion by Bruno Spengler.
The second Corvette fell out of contention after both Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner both suffered contact on track and had to return to the pits for repairs.
In GT Daytona, the Dodge Viper of Dominik Farnbacher held the top spot with around a 40 second advantage over the Alex Job Racing Porsche with Andrew Davis at the wheel. Both cars have enjoyed their share of running at the top of the class.
The only class where anybody is “comfortable” – not that you can ever be “comfortable” – is the CORE autosport PC squad. With Colin Braun at the wheel, the No54 car has a one lap advantage over Tom Kimber-Smith.
Today’s 24 at Daytona will come to an end at 2:10pm when the checkered flag falls.
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